Dutch GP, 1952

The Dutch were allowed to host their first World Championship event a fortnight after the German Grand Prix and all the major players were present at Zandvoort except the factory Maserati team. The field was small but spiced up by the appearance of Dutchmen Jan Flinterman in a third Escuderia Bandierantes Maserati and Dries van der Lof in the third HWM. The small British teams appeared as usual with Mike Hawthorn's Cooper-Bristol, Ken Wharton in his Scuderia Franera Frazer-Nash, Ken Downing in a Connaught and Stirling Moss in an ERA.

As usual practice was dominated by the Ferraris of newly-crowned World Champion Ascari and Giuseppe Farina but Hawthorn made it onto the front row while Gigi Villoresi was back in action in the third Ferrari after several races out of action. He was on the second row with Maurice Trintignant's Gordini while Jean Behra and Robert Manzon's similar cars sandwiched Wharton's Frazer-Nash on row three.

Ascari took the lead from Hawthorn but soon Farina was ahead of the Cooper, which also dropped behind the third Ferrari within a handful of laps. The race was a procession after that with Ferrari finishing 1-2-3, two laps ahead of Hawthorn. Manzon and Trintignant were fifth and sixth for Gordini but a lap down on the Cooper-Bristol.